Jumaa kareem all. Habari gani on this fine friday afternoon.

Not surprised this is happening, but its just one of the many byproducts of statelessness. No protection for Somalis and our most vulnerable are game. These places are uber violent and suffer from extreme poverty, so i ask the question why have Somalis not tried to diversify away from setting up in these dangerous areas. The police are obviously not doing much, and from personal experience i know quite a few south africans blacks not white who harbour obnoxious and xenophobic views of Somalis and other africans in general. Still having said that i cant generalise.

^^hear, hear

Dreamer, optimist, in a nice sense.

It warms my heart to see such an iconic Somali city getting back on its feet. Many thanks Somalina. With peace and a little bit of planning the sky can be the limit.

A deep and prolonged sigh that punctuated the fresh wintry air was the first visible sign of Ali on the station platform. He cast a tall but forlorn character as he slowly inched his head up towards the direction of the roaring 7am express. For a few, their only crime…..

Narniah;786908 wrote: Allah yarhama. May Allah grant your grandparents jannah ameen. The first time I saw my mother cry was when my brother stuffed a small object in his nose. He couldn't breathe, I remember how she cried and literally placed her mouth over his nose and sucked it out. This is why Jannah is underneath our mothers feet. Who else would suck something our of our nose? Indeed sis, mothers represent everything that is good and wholesome about societies, and women in general can be an incredible force for good within our society. Its a shame they are underutilised, and to some extent marginalised. We need to push for women to hold more prominent roles in any future Somali state to help mitigate the self destructive tendencies of our men. Anyway i digress, yes mums are the best:) but our women are the communities best asset.

My earliest memory comes from when I was aged almost 4 years old. As an early riser I found my mum crying in the laundry room. This was an interesting sight for me; it was more a prolonged deep sobbing to be honest. It was then my mum told me that she had lost her father that morning, a man she clearly loved very much. Apparently I couldn’t understand why god would want to take him from mum. Anyway that was the first time I saw my mother crying, and the second was a few years ago when her mother died, needless to say it brought back some memories.

I think United have this one in the bag. 2-0

pop-influenced New York disco. "I got a car that I call Jenny, I take her out when there's too much noise in my head she's always there to take me anywhere." Story of my life.

Come on Alpha join in i a positive way. I know you have your own considerations. Add to the mix and mitigate my poor taste with some of yours:-p

Across 110th Street 1972 Another cracker made in the blaxploitation era starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto. Cracking film, although a wee bit extreme on the violence. It has one of the most captivating and heart wrenching scenes I have ever seen, simply incredible. Also the soundtrack by Bobby Womack is also excellent, used much later by Tarantino in the film Jackie Brown.

The Warriors 1979 Another wacky badas.s super fun film. Why aren't gangs this uber cool anymore. Another stellar opening montage, this is what filmaking should be about + ace soundtrack.

BOB, War horse's cinematography was top notch. Yes that scene was memorable and quite emotional. But its what I've come to expect from Spielberg, pretty safe.

Escape from New York 1981 One of my favourites all time, really really fun film. The original post apocalyptic anti hero film, No one does it better than John Carpenter. You cant go wrong with the likes of Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence and Isaac Hayes. Thoroughly enjoyable and eerie film. Manhattan has become a giant prison and the Air Force One has crash landed onto the island, Snake Plissken has been press ganged into saving the president etc... This is the scene where we are introduced to The Duke.

The Verdict 1982 One of the finest performances in cinema history, Ben Kingsley won the Oscar that year for playing Gandhi and Paul Newman missed out. A very powerful speech at the tail end of a film portrays some of the universal truths through Newman's flawed character, one of the most unpretentious, subtle summations ever.

The opening 10 minutes of Drive was out of this world visually. Never before have i been so invested in a film. Ryan Gosling in by far the best film of 2011. Incredibly difficult to articulate just how good this film is. PlayStation generation will definitely appreciate this one, with subtle references made to Driver and GTA series throughout. This b movie with a noir heart will win you over guaranteed! Faith in modern cinema fully restored. Ryan Gosling is single handedly bringing back the cult of the antihero, If you haven't already seen it, get it! Filmed over 7 weeks. Already a cult masterpiece, the most atmospheric film of 2011.

I love films, and I’m currently reading a book on script writing by Syd Field, nothing serious and mainly as a hobby. Nevertheless people post your favourite scenes from cinema history. Post anything with substance, films that have been overlooked for gongs, low budget or generally forgotten timeless classics. I’ll kick things off with some of mine.

Welcome back BOB, mate you should write about your travels and experiences, sounds like you have a wealth of experience. I for one would read your autobiography, or is that a few years out still:)

I thought he was quite weird and creepy until he mentioned he had a masters degree in communication, in that moment i couldn't help but burst out with laughter. Oh the irony. Seriously though what is it with US politics especially the republican camp. They're all morons. Maskeenkani does not look well though. Funny as phoc* nonetheless.

I think ailamos is on too something here. I remember reading that the production of this facility is severely limited due to the lack of water availability hence they had to forgo the option to use glass bottles as they would need millions of gallons per anum just to clean them. So they have opted for plastic with possibly an Indian firm offering recycling options. so to me it seems like they will be using the limited ground water sources. I can foresee issues if this is the case, as nearby is where most of the water tankers that ply their trade in Hargeisa fill up.

It is an interesting paradigm Mo finds himself in, being trained like a sprinter by the likes of Michael Johnson along with coach Salazar. Working on weights and fast twitch muscle fibres in the hope of giving him that explosive speed over the last couple of hundred metres. I saw the race yesterday and was surprised Mo could win even whilst stepping down, coupled with the fact that he ran himself to the ground in his Kenyan camp. This showed as he was a bit leggy, but persisted because Mo is fighter and a winner. Great start to 2012, with a bit of luck he can stay injury free, thats all that matters at the moment. Kenny B is looking a bit worse for wear, but as we all new the double Olympic and 10km, 5km world record holder is still the man to beat. Looks like we are in store for a great year of athletics.

Narniah I cannot thank Person of Interest enough for introducing me to this wonderful artist, fun show and great artist. Beautiful, sultry and the soulful Chan Marshall. My all time favourite list of TV shows. Breaking Bad, The Wire The Shield Terriers (inexplicably canned, still hurts) Dexter Weeds Friday Night Lights I'm sure the Sopranos should be in there also but i haven't seen it yet. Oday i get your point about TV these days, but i usually download my shows and watch an episode at the very end of a long day, a little bit of escapism is needed i think. Otherwise i do love watching interesting and well researched documentaries most of the time. In fact i would say thats what i watch most of the time as they can be quite educational.